Wednesday, January 13, 2010

As I'm sure you know, they had an earthquake in Haiti yesterday. Much of the country's infrastructure is destroyed. It's estimated that as many as 100,000 people were killed. Disaster relief and humanitarian aid organizations worldwide are rushing to help.

And what is televangelist and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson doing? He's offering his unique perspective on the cause of the earthquake. Here's what he had to say this morning on CBN's The 700 Club when asked for his thoughts by co-host Kristi Watts:

"You know, Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti. And the people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third or whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you get us free from the French.' True story. And so, the Devil said, 'Ok, it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another -- desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti on the other is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God, that out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come, but right now we're helping the suffering people -- and the suffering is unimaginable."

Don't believe it? See for yourself:

Pat Robertson will be 80 in a few months, and I might be willing to cut him some slack because of that. That is, if he hadn't said things like this before. But he has. Often. He most famously blamed the 9/11 terrorist attacks and natural disasters in the United States on, among other things, abortion, internet porn, and the ACLU.

Now look. I don't care what people believe. Nor do I care if people say absolutely stupid things in public. In fact, I like that because it's proof of their stupidity and can be used against them. But I do care when stupid people say stupid things in public to 1. blame victims for what has happened to them and 2. advance their own messed-up agenda.

So congratulations, Pat Robertson. You are the Flaming Asshat of the Day. Enjoy your victory.